UEFA Wants To Hit FC Barcelona With $68.5 Million Sanction

European soccer governing body UEFA proposed hitting Spanish giant FC Barcelona with a $68.5 million fine as part of sanctions according to Mundo Deportivo, which cited anonymous sources.

Once one of the sport’s most monied clubs, Barca has battled financial problems since an economic crisis at the turn of the decade brought on by the pandemic’s lack of matchday revenue and overpaying for signings took it to the brink of oblivion.

Facing what were set to be four long years without the La Liga title, FC Barcelona and its president Joan Laporta got creative by pulling a series of what Laporta called “financial levers” in the summer of 2022.

This involved operations such as selling 10% of future television broadcasting rights to American investment group Sixth Street for €207.5 million, and then another 15% to the same party for €315 million, in order to raise the funds required to sign the likes of Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde.

The move proved successful in that then-head coach and midfield legend Xavi Hernandez made Barca Spanish champions once more.

Yet while La Liga accepted these financial gymnastics, UEFA did not look on them too kindly and argued that the sales of the television broadcasting rights stakes could not be defined as “operating income”.

That’s why Barca was sanctioned by UEFA in 2024 but ended up paying just €500,000 after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

As explained by Mundo Deportivo, however, the European authority is not satisfied and wants to hit Barca with a hefty sanction of $68.5 million (€60 million).

Laporta is relying on his cordial relationship with UEFA president Aleksandr Ceferin to work something out, and he’s argued that Barca is not a SAD or “Public limited sports company” and therefore cannot make capital increases.

Furthermore, Barca is allowed to make a sale of assets for a certain period of time in Spain, and La Liga president Javier Tebas validated the levers at the time they were pulled.

After Laporta used his charm, UEFA has agreed to reduce the fine from €60 million to €15 million providing the club complies with it and La Liga’s FFP rules.

The fine will still be a hefty blow for FC Barcelona

Even if the fine is still only €15 million, it is still a hefty blow for a club like FC Barcelona, which is still on the road to recovery. It’s not far off the €25 million it needs to raise to pay Joan Garcia’s release clause, and could affect pursuits for the likes of Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford or Liverpool’s Luis Diaz elsewhere.